In enterprise resource planning (ERP) scenarios, database table columns are often filled with a single value for each row and storing data for special cases of the application. For most customers these columns are filled with an initial value. To read values from columns in a column-store table, such as in an in-memory database, a lock is acquired on a column to make sure data is not being modified in parallel. In scenarios selecting single rows, a notable overhead penalty can be introduced because the whole column has to be locked to read a single value. The amount of users that can be handled in parallel is then limited to the operation of the locking mechanism. An underperforming locking mechanism can result high user lockout causing user dissatisfaction, loss of revenue, a poor user experience, and/or rejection of an ERP application in favor of a competing product.